"Jade city truly lives up to its reputation," Lex spoke with a hint of astonishment as he stared at the humongous city in front of him. He also turned towards Leo, expecting the same reaction, but he was instead welcomed by a rather distressed expression that screams, 'I forgot something' or 'I did something wrong.'
"I just realized something that I forgot to do..." Leo mumbled under his breath but it was loud enough to be heard faintly by Lex.
"What's wrong? What did you forget?" Lex asked confusedly, it's not often that his brother would forget stuff so this much be an extremely significant thing.
"I forgot to ask them where to meet..." Leo answered as his face embarrassedly fell, "How the hell are we supposed to find those guys in such a big city?"
"Heh..." Lex's face became blank almost immediately as he heard what Leo had just said, forming into a confused expression.
"It can't be that bad... don't worry. We'll just walk in for now and I'll just ask around," Leo decided after a few seconds of thinking and the duo then began to walk towards the city's entrance gate.
About five minutes later, there was quite a long queue of merchants and others waiting patiently to bring their supplies inside and it was only after another three minutes that Leo and Lex had made it to the city gate and they were greeted by a group of seven guards whose cultivation varied from refinement stage two to refinement stage five. Just from this level of guards alone, it was easy to tell why the Jade Empire was able to be one of the strongest powers on this continent.
"Yo," Leo greeted as he and Lex walked forward to the inspection of the guards.
The leader of the guard looked at them strangely as he looked behind them, expecting a caravan or a carriage behind them.
"Is this all?" he asked confusedly.
"Huh...?" Lex immediately gave the man a confused look but while he was busy with confusion, Leo answered him, "Ah, no. We're not merchants..."
Hearing Leo's answer, the leader and the rest of the guards only grew even more confused.
"Is there something wrong?" Leo asked as he was also affected by their confusion.
"Do you not understand where you are?" the leader asked with a lingering hint of confusion.
"At an entrance to Jade City?" Lex answered with an 'am I wrong?' expression.
"What are you guys doing here in Jade city?" the leader asked again, this time with less confusion as he seemed to be understanding their situation.
"We're here for the Sacred Silk Ceremony," Leo answered directly.
"Oh... That explains a lot then," the leader wisely nodded as he stroked his grey bread understandingly, "You guys must be tourists then."
"Yes, we are," Leo answered as he nodded with Lex.
The leader reached forward as he patted Leo on the back and then pointed towards the people who were behind them. He said, "This is the merchant's gate. This is one of the four gates that are meant only for merchants. There are other entrances that are meant for others."
"Ah... That makes sense. So does that mean that we won't be able to make it inside from this entrance?" Lex asked disappointedly.
"No... It's not entirely impossible for you guys to enter but since this entrance was meant not meant for travellers so you guys will have to pay three coins per person," the leader answered walked over to his table and brought out a small scroll, which he opened and showed them.
"It really says so, huh?" Leo spoke as he let out a sigh of relief as he began to take six gold coins out of his storage ring, "Phew... At least we will be able to get inside. I really couldn't be bothered to have to enter the city from another entrance. This place is so big, the next entrance would probably be really far away."
"You guys must really be in a hurry..." the leader spoke as he accepted the gold coins and placed them inside the pouch on the table.
"Okay then, please enter. You are causing the whole line to stop, there's a lot of merchants that have to enter to make their daily needs you know," said the leader as he urged them forward.
"A little question before we go... Do you perhaps know where the Crystal Empire's team is staying?" Leo asked embarrassedly as he scratched the back of his head.
"You should find them on the outskirts of the south division of the city. The Crystal Empire's team is staying at the Bountiful Harvest. Just head straight and then turn on the fifth left, keep on following the road, and then you should arrive there,"
Somewhere in the middle of the marketplace in the south division...
"Sigh... Finding this much spider silk is not easy at all..." Eupheme annoyedly let out a sigh as he walked out of a weaver's shop and onto the busy street while mumbling, "what the hell is this guy going to use all this silk for?"
Eupheme had been spending most of his time here in the city doing the favour that Leo had asked him for fifty kilograms worth of spider silk which was a near-impossible task itself in any other empire. It was only due to Jade City being the trade hub of the continent that Eupheme was able to find it so quickly and this so-called 'quick' took almost a week.
"I have no idea why I'm doing this..." he let out a defeated breath of calmness and began his shopping again.
"I think we're lost..."
"No, we're not. I know perfectly where we are..." a familiar voice sounded.
"I've been so stressed about finding them all in time that I've begun to hear them in my consciousness..." Eupheme mumbled in fear as the colours on his face became pale.
"No, you don't! All we had to do was to follow the gate captain's instruction! But instead, you decided to check out the shops!"
"There was something very nice on display!" the familiar voice defended himself.
"Have I become so delusional that the Leo in my head is actually excited about shopping?" Eupheme whispered to himself as a spark of fear was sent throughout his spine and he began closing his eyes and chanted a calming mantra.
"Bullcrap... You haven't looked at a single thing. What kind of weak defence excuse was that?"
"Uh... Someone bought the thing that I wanted to see... I'm not jok-"
Due to the two voices arguing while walking and Eupheme panicking chanting a mantra while closing his eyes, the two collided. Would you look at that... Totally not forced by the author, lol.
"Sorry dude... I wasn't looki-" Leo immediately spoke out but the words got clogged up in his throat as he saw who it was.
"Eupheme?"
"Huh?" hearing his name being called, Eupheme's mind chanting was immediately interrupted and as he looked up, confusion appeared on his face, "Leo? And Lex?"
"Fancy stumbling into you, eh?" Leo laughed lightly as he offered his hand.
"I could say the same," said Eupheme with a light smile as he took Leo's hand and stood back up onto his feet.
"I thought you guys would be at the Bountiful Harvest. What brings you guys here?" he asked curiously as he patted the dust off his robes.
Hearing this, Lex gave Leo an intense glare which made him chuckle nervously as he scratched his head and said, "I might have been to blame for that..."
Not wanting to remain on this topic any longer, Leo asked, "So how did your spider silk findings go?"
"Jeez. You have no idea how many clothes shops that I have visited. But I have good news. I've spent about eighty per cent of all the money you gave me and I have bought the amount that you specified," Eupheme replied with a satisfied smile.
"Damn..." Leo spoke in slight disbelief as he had expected Eupheme to take a lot longer but he quickly recovered as he smiled, "That's great. I'm glad that you were willing to do this for me, I would probably have taken at least a month."
"Well then, since you guys are here and probably lost, I'm guessing that you guys will want to come with me to the Bountiful Harvest?" Eupheme asked as they couldn't just keep standing on the busy street. Lex and Leo immediately nodded to this and they began making their way to the inn where they were expecting to meet the Crystal Empire's team along with the Lapis King.
Eventually, the trio had made it to the inn and it was not what they expected...
The inn was a very shabby looking place that you would not expect to find in such a grand place like Jade City. The inn itself was quite big and looked like it had around fifty rooms walls were made out of very old wood which had a few lengthy cracks on it which spanned from the bottom floor to the second floor. There were twenty murky green windows on each floor and the entrance of the inn was decorated by a series of wooden branches which looked like it was naturally bent to spell out 'Bountiful Harvest' and right under that unique banner was a double door that was made up of a lighter shade of brown wood compared to the 'browniness' of the walls.
It was a complete contrast to the traditional-styled white houses that could be seen on the east side of the city.
"What do you think?" Eupheme asked with a smile on his face.
"It certainly not like anything I had expected..." Leo answered as he carefully observed the inn.
"I had the exact same thoughts when I first saw this place. Haha," Eupheme commented as he laughed.
"What's so funny?" Lex asked curiously.
"Wait till you see the inside, it sure you will be surprised," replied Eupheme as he signalled for them to enter first.
It seemed like Eupheme's comment had excited the brothers as their eyes seemed to light up with excitement and they began to make their way into the inn. And to their surprise, the front door that Leo had been expecting to be extremely creaky from its really old look but it did not make a sound as they made their way into the inn.
And boy were they surprised when they saw the interior of the inn. They were greeted by a big atrium and the old brown wall on the outside looked completely different from the inside. The inside walls were a healthy light brown that looked smooth and clean. The floor was planked with well-polished umber shaded wood and there was a large number of furniture spread across the floor for many people to rest, eat, or spend time with friends.
"The outside was just a facade that was hiding the treasure underneath..." Leo mumbled out and Lex subconsciously nodded in agreement.
Leo's eyes scanned across the room as he looked around for Edgar but he was nowhere to be found. And before he could ask about it, Eupheme interrupted as he also entered while saying, "This is where you guys will be staying for the next few weeks. Not so shabby right?"
"It a lot better than I thought. I'm more excited about the rooms now..." Leo spoke in a distracted tone and asked, "Where's Edgar and the rest of the team then?"
"They should be in the hall," Eupheme answered as he pointed towards the reception table, "Go get yourselves a room first."
"Wait- Why do we have to get ourselves a room? Shouldn't it be paid by the Crystal Empire? Or does it just not work like that?" Lex asked with a hint of confusion.
"It does... The Crystal Empire should have booked a room for your brother but judging from your brother's personality, I don't think he will want to be associated with them so it might be better to isolate himself from them," Eupheme replied almost immediately, as if he had been expecting such a question.
Sigh...
'This is gonna be a pain' thought Leo as he walked to reception and rang a small bell.
"Coming!" a female voice called out from the door behind the table and a few seconds later, a cheerful teenage girl with purple glasses that were completely fogged walked out hurriedly.
She seemed to be walking too fast as she accidentally stepped on her long white skirt which caused her to fall and her glasses to fall. The instant that she hit the floor, her face immediately reddened as she began panikingly scouring across a small area of the floor with her hands, searching for her glasses.
"Oh my goodness... I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed in shame and tried to look up to see the trio but her eyes failed her and all she ended up seeing was a blurry outline of three people.
"Are you okay?" Leo asked as he picked up her glasses that had fallen next to the table and helped her up.
"Thank you so much for your help! I'm as blind as a bat without my glasses," the girl thanked Leo as she took the glasses from him. The instant she wore them, her eyes suddenly seemed to be entranced as in front of her was an outstandingly handsome man who she thought could only exist in her imagination.
"You ok? Are your eyes broken?" Leo asked curiously as he tapped the side of her head with a finger.
"Oh! I'm so sorry..." the girl's face immediately turned even more red as she realized that she had just stared at a man's face. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she then walked forward to the table and introduced herself, "Welcome to the Bountiful Harvest. I am Delia and I will be attending to you. May I ask what you have come for?"
The instant that she asked the question, she began looking at the trio and immediately recognized Eupheme and changed her tone to a slightly more casual tone and spoke, "Eupheme, you're back. Are they your friends?"
"Yes. This is Leo and his little brother, Lex. I think you should tend to them first," Eupheme replied to her blandly.
"Still so cold..." Delia commented dejectedly but nevertheless, there was still customers to tend to so she changed her expression back to business mode... a very bad business mode... she didn't seem capable of making a deal at all, "How may I help you?"
"I'd like to book a room with two beds for me and my brother please," Leo replied.
"And for how long will you be staying with us?" she continued.
"For the whole duration of the Sacred Silk Ceremony," Leo answered.
"Ohh, are you guys also here to watch the tournament?" she asked as a light appeared in her eyes.
"Nope... I'm actually a part of the Crystal Empire's team," Leo replied with a smile as he pointed to himself.
"Huh? Really?" Delia exclaimed in disbelief, 'he looks like he's younger than me... that mean's he will probably the youngest member in the tournament.'
"Heck yeah! My brother's going to win the whole tournament," Lex declared proudly as he hung his arms on his hips, emanating the epitome of childish confidence.
Caught unaware by Lex's sudden declaration, Delia took a few seconds to process it but then she simply smiled, "Nice. I will also be rooting for your brother aswell then. It will be five gold coins a night and since you will be staying for the whole duration of the tournament which will take about a month, it will total up to 150 gold coins."
Leo nodded and he handed her the amount after taking them out of his ring.
"Great! Okay, here is the key for the room. I've given you the room next to Eupheme's so he can guide you. I'm sorry for that... I need to get back to the kitchen so please excuse me," Delia quickly spoke as she then hurriedly turned around and paced back to the door that she emerged from.
Eupheme and Leo get into their room after being stared at by the Crystal Empire's team>(300)
Leo's eyebrows subconsciously rose as he stared at the devastating sight in front of him...
"This is the Crystal Empire's squad," Eupheme spoke softly so that they would not hear him.
"They look so beastly..." Lex couldn't help but mutter out quietly.
Eupheme had let them into the hall and there was nothing much different about this room other than the fact that there were nine hunky large men. Each man was at least six feet tall and was wearing a black tank top and simple half pants which were of the same colour. They all looked like bodybuilders who were on steroids as they were wolfing down the food that was served on the table while secretly showing off their large muscles.
Seeing their behaviour, Leo and Lex did not see any reason to introduce themselves so they just kept walking and took the stairs to the second floor and on the left side of the building was their room. There were two simple wooden beds with a extremely comfortable mattresses that was covered with a white bedsheet. Everything about the room pointed towards the fact that it was very well kept and cleaned regularly.
Lex immediately leaped up in the direction of the bed and did a sommersault backflip half twist before landing onto the bed with a loud relaxing moan as he felt his body sink into the mattress, "Ahhhhhhhhhh! This is really comfortable!" (A/N: I don't know what came over me for that to happen... I think I just miss my bed too much.)
"Haha. Nice to know that its comfy," Leo commented as he smiled at Lex's antics.
"Anyways, I'm sure that you guys will want to rest as you guys have just got here," Eupheme said as he tapped his ring and an envelope appeared in his hands and he handed it to Leo, "Here. This was addressed to you, Edgar told me to give it to you. I'll take my leave now. Enjoy your rest for now, I'll give you your silk and the money later."
After saying that, Eupheme left the room, leaving a very comfortably snuggled Lex who seemed to have already fallen asleep and a very curious Leo.
"I'll just open it now..." Leo decided after a few seconds of consideration as he cut open the envelope and pulled out an letter along with a invitation.
"Interesting... I made the right choice to open it now," Leo said as a small smile slowly appeared on his face.
"It seems tomorrow night will be a very interesting event..." he mumbled quietly at a volume that only he could hear, "I wonder how Aurora is doing. I hope she's doing okay."